Not So Fast
02-16-2007, 11:19 AM
Very interesting stuff :idea:
In this very space, no less than a few weeks ago, I actually DEFENDED Marty Schottenheimer in the face of his 5-13 playoff record.
I can do that no longer.
Two things have happened since then, which need explaining.
First, there was an email I received from a trusted NFL source – I’ll just call him “Deep Shield” – who relayed a conversation he had with a person who had full audio access to the Chargers meltdown vs. the Patriots.
As you may know, NFL Films does OUTSTANDING re-caps of these games, by being allowed to mic up certain players and coaches – with their permission of course. They will also sometimes be allowed to mix-in audio of the coordinators in the booth, providing of course, it doesn’t compromise a team’s playbook or strategies vs. certain opponents.
When I watched the NFL Films “re-cap” of this game via iTunes (highly recommended at $1.99 per game, or $6.99 for the entire post-season) they showed a good bit of Marty on the sidelines doing his “coaching” of the ‘Bolts.
They even showed him playing “Father Flanagan” to that idiot Drayton Florence who got the 15 yard penalty that started a chain reaction of further game killing stupidity. There was Marty, sitting alone on the bench next to Florence, chiding him sternly, but gently.
Upon seeing this, I said: “classic Marty.” He always gets his rocks off being a “teacher.” Which is fine. But sometimes, the “teaching” must end, and the FEAR OF GOD must come into clear focus.
Personally, I thought it was time for the Fear of God. Most coaches, I presume would be staring daggers at Florence, if not even benching him for a series. Would it have made him play better? Maybe, maybe not.
But it DOES get the focus and attention of the rest of the team to TIGHTEN UP and play smart. I think the Chargers needed that.
Anyway, what NFL Films ALLOWED us to see of Marty “mic’d up” is a small FRACTION of what “Deep Shield’s” source was privy to. Get a load of this…
Steve,
Just caught the tail-end of your show this morning when you were talking about Schottenheimer and downloading the playoff stuff from I-Tunes.
I know somebody that had full audio access to that game. What he said, was mind-blowing.
You'll remember the infamous 4th and 11 call that probably doomed SD in the first quarter. This was the exchange that was heard “down-the-line” between Marty and Cam Cameron.
Marty: We're going for it.
Cameron: No f'ing way coach, we're kicking.
Marty: Find a play. We're going for it.
From then on it was a huge argument with cursing left and right. They had to call a time out and when Rivers came over he said, "What's going on, why aren't we kicking the field goal?"
So early in the second quarter, Marty yells into the mic, "Goddamnit, I'm so hyped up someone needs to get over here and calm me down." So the special teams coach comes over to him and talks to him and Marty says, "I was pulling into the parking lot today and I decided we were going to be aggressive. People don't think I can be aggressive but I decided driving in that we were going to be." And the ST coach says, "Coach. You can't let the outside stuff get to you." I think it's interesting, at best, that Schottenheimer was making decisions in the parking lot with regard to strategy.
All told, the guy said it was pretty unbelievable. Anyway, you probably will not be seeing those clips on any upcoming special on the life and times of coach Marty Schottenheimer but I thought you'd enjoy hearing about it.
Sincerely,
“Deep Shield”
Wow. I have good reason to believe this is within 93% of being true. And as such, I must change my assessment of his in-game coaching leadership.
Fast forward to his firing this week. Some will say that he “stood on principle” and left “via the high road.” Okay, no arguments there.
But think about how utterly stupid it was.
So what if A.J. Smith hates your guts? So what if heÂ’s got the boss hammer in the organization? So what if you wonÂ’t be running the war room this spring?
So what, so what, so what????
Marty was sitting on a ROCKET SHIP of a team, with a phenomenal chance of making the Super Bowl. And he was given an unlikely death row PARDON from Spanos and Company after this yearÂ’s flame out.
As a COACH, this was the year for Marty to just SUCK IT UP and coach his way to glory. He wonÂ’t likely get another chance this good again. Oh sure, heÂ’ll get another job. With a shit team, that just fired their coach. HeÂ’ll need another rebuild job, and hopefully a Hall of Famer like the one he had in LT.
Look, everybody who works for somebody else in life, knows that you donÂ’t win all the battles. You know that sometimes your boss is an asshole. You know that there are insults, slights, and indignities you donÂ’t deserve.
And perhaps Marty didnÂ’t deserve A.J. SmithÂ’s shit. IÂ’m accepting that possibility.
But stillÂ….. think of it. Roll with it Marty. Just one freaking year in which you arenÂ’t king of the organizational flow chart. How bad could it be? The players still liked you. So what do you care, in 20 years, if things were sorta rocky?
What would people have remembered more?
“He finally won a Super Bowl. Welcome to Canton!”
orÂ…
“Sure, he won one. But he never got along with A.J. Smith.”
When I saw MartyÂ’s now familiar exit speech, it was laced with an oddly prideful tone of how much better he had left things. It was just like the speech he gave after Dan Snyder did him wrong in Washington.
It was at that moment, it hit me.
MartyÂ… is a martyr.
He seems to actually LIKE this. ItÂ’s bizarre, but itÂ’s very clear to me now. I feel bad for him. I think he is a class guy, I think heÂ’s a helluva coach who simply gets a bit too out of whack in big games.
But I think he made the mistake of his coaching lifetime.
>>>>>>>>>>>
And Now
In this very space, no less than a few weeks ago, I actually DEFENDED Marty Schottenheimer in the face of his 5-13 playoff record.
I can do that no longer.
Two things have happened since then, which need explaining.
First, there was an email I received from a trusted NFL source – I’ll just call him “Deep Shield” – who relayed a conversation he had with a person who had full audio access to the Chargers meltdown vs. the Patriots.
As you may know, NFL Films does OUTSTANDING re-caps of these games, by being allowed to mic up certain players and coaches – with their permission of course. They will also sometimes be allowed to mix-in audio of the coordinators in the booth, providing of course, it doesn’t compromise a team’s playbook or strategies vs. certain opponents.
When I watched the NFL Films “re-cap” of this game via iTunes (highly recommended at $1.99 per game, or $6.99 for the entire post-season) they showed a good bit of Marty on the sidelines doing his “coaching” of the ‘Bolts.
They even showed him playing “Father Flanagan” to that idiot Drayton Florence who got the 15 yard penalty that started a chain reaction of further game killing stupidity. There was Marty, sitting alone on the bench next to Florence, chiding him sternly, but gently.
Upon seeing this, I said: “classic Marty.” He always gets his rocks off being a “teacher.” Which is fine. But sometimes, the “teaching” must end, and the FEAR OF GOD must come into clear focus.
Personally, I thought it was time for the Fear of God. Most coaches, I presume would be staring daggers at Florence, if not even benching him for a series. Would it have made him play better? Maybe, maybe not.
But it DOES get the focus and attention of the rest of the team to TIGHTEN UP and play smart. I think the Chargers needed that.
Anyway, what NFL Films ALLOWED us to see of Marty “mic’d up” is a small FRACTION of what “Deep Shield’s” source was privy to. Get a load of this…
Steve,
Just caught the tail-end of your show this morning when you were talking about Schottenheimer and downloading the playoff stuff from I-Tunes.
I know somebody that had full audio access to that game. What he said, was mind-blowing.
You'll remember the infamous 4th and 11 call that probably doomed SD in the first quarter. This was the exchange that was heard “down-the-line” between Marty and Cam Cameron.
Marty: We're going for it.
Cameron: No f'ing way coach, we're kicking.
Marty: Find a play. We're going for it.
From then on it was a huge argument with cursing left and right. They had to call a time out and when Rivers came over he said, "What's going on, why aren't we kicking the field goal?"
So early in the second quarter, Marty yells into the mic, "Goddamnit, I'm so hyped up someone needs to get over here and calm me down." So the special teams coach comes over to him and talks to him and Marty says, "I was pulling into the parking lot today and I decided we were going to be aggressive. People don't think I can be aggressive but I decided driving in that we were going to be." And the ST coach says, "Coach. You can't let the outside stuff get to you." I think it's interesting, at best, that Schottenheimer was making decisions in the parking lot with regard to strategy.
All told, the guy said it was pretty unbelievable. Anyway, you probably will not be seeing those clips on any upcoming special on the life and times of coach Marty Schottenheimer but I thought you'd enjoy hearing about it.
Sincerely,
“Deep Shield”
Wow. I have good reason to believe this is within 93% of being true. And as such, I must change my assessment of his in-game coaching leadership.
Fast forward to his firing this week. Some will say that he “stood on principle” and left “via the high road.” Okay, no arguments there.
But think about how utterly stupid it was.
So what if A.J. Smith hates your guts? So what if heÂ’s got the boss hammer in the organization? So what if you wonÂ’t be running the war room this spring?
So what, so what, so what????
Marty was sitting on a ROCKET SHIP of a team, with a phenomenal chance of making the Super Bowl. And he was given an unlikely death row PARDON from Spanos and Company after this yearÂ’s flame out.
As a COACH, this was the year for Marty to just SUCK IT UP and coach his way to glory. He wonÂ’t likely get another chance this good again. Oh sure, heÂ’ll get another job. With a shit team, that just fired their coach. HeÂ’ll need another rebuild job, and hopefully a Hall of Famer like the one he had in LT.
Look, everybody who works for somebody else in life, knows that you donÂ’t win all the battles. You know that sometimes your boss is an asshole. You know that there are insults, slights, and indignities you donÂ’t deserve.
And perhaps Marty didnÂ’t deserve A.J. SmithÂ’s shit. IÂ’m accepting that possibility.
But stillÂ….. think of it. Roll with it Marty. Just one freaking year in which you arenÂ’t king of the organizational flow chart. How bad could it be? The players still liked you. So what do you care, in 20 years, if things were sorta rocky?
What would people have remembered more?
“He finally won a Super Bowl. Welcome to Canton!”
orÂ…
“Sure, he won one. But he never got along with A.J. Smith.”
When I saw MartyÂ’s now familiar exit speech, it was laced with an oddly prideful tone of how much better he had left things. It was just like the speech he gave after Dan Snyder did him wrong in Washington.
It was at that moment, it hit me.
MartyÂ… is a martyr.
He seems to actually LIKE this. ItÂ’s bizarre, but itÂ’s very clear to me now. I feel bad for him. I think he is a class guy, I think heÂ’s a helluva coach who simply gets a bit too out of whack in big games.
But I think he made the mistake of his coaching lifetime.
>>>>>>>>>>>
And Now